美国国家公共电台 NPR Merck Pulls Out Of Agreement To Supply Life-Saving Vaccine To Millions Of Kids

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The pharmaceutical¹ giant Merck is pulling out of an agreement to sell a lifesaving vaccine² to poor countries at a reduced cost. At the same time, the company has just started sending the vaccine to China, where it will likely be sold for a much higher price. As NPR's Michaeleen Doucleff explains, the pullout may leave millions of babies at risk for rotavirus. A warning - this story does contain graphic³ details.

MICHAELEEN DOUCLEFF, BYLINE⁴: For the past 50 years, Dr. Mathuram Santosham has been treating babies around the world for infectious diseases. He says there's one baby he'll never forget.

MATHURAM SANTOSHAM: I was in a rural hospital in Nigeria, and a young woman running to me with her baby.

DOUCLEFF: Santosham couldn't understand what she was saying

SANTOSHAM: But I knew just from her body language what she wanted. She wanted me to save her baby.

DOUCLEFF: The little girl had an infection called rotavirus, which causes a high fever, seizures⁵, explosive diarrhea. The little girl was dying.

SANTOSHAM: And I touched the baby, and the baby had just lost her pulse. The baby had just died.

DOUCLEFF: Santosham tried to resuscitate⁶ the baby, but he couldn't do anything.

SANTOSHAM: Just a few minutes ago, the baby was alive. I mean, that's how fast things can go. And it just broke my heart.

DOUCLEFF: Santosham is a pediatrician at Johns Hopkins University. He says rotavirus is one of the most contagious⁷ diseases on earth.

SANTOSHAM: Before the age of 5, every child, whether you live in the U.S. or you live in a developing country, is infected with this disease.

DOUCLEFF: Here in the U.S., before there was a vaccine, rotavirus hospitalized about 50,000 children each year. But it was rarely fatal because children could be easily treated. That's not true in poor countries. There, rotavirus can quickly become life-threatening. For this reason, Santosham says, the vaccine is critical. But the vaccine is also very expensive.

Here in the U.S., it costs about $200 a course. So back in 2011, the two companies that manufacture the vaccine, Merck and GlaxoSmithKline, agreed to reduce the price for poor countries to about $10 a course. Merck committed to supplying the vaccine to four countries in West Africa. This agreement fits well with one of Merck's corporate⁸ missions of increasing access to medicines around the world. Merck emphasized this in a promotional video.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

GEORGE W. MERCK: We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not only for the profit. The profits follow. And if we have remembered that, they have never failed to appear.

DOUCLEFF: For the past six years, Merck has stuck to its commitment. It has delivered more than 30 million doses to the West African nations of Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali and Sao Tome and Principe. Now Merck is withdrawing from that agreement. A spokesperson for Gavi, a charity that negotiates vaccine prices for poor countries, says that Merck will not be able to deliver all the doses it promised this year and next. In 2020, it will stop delivering the vaccine altogether to West Africa. GSK says it will not make up for Merck's shortfall. In an email to NPR, a Merck spokesperson wrote that the company can't continue to sell the vaccine to West Africa because of, quote, "supply constraints," such as "unanticipated manufacturing issues and packaging challenges."

At the same time, Merck has started to sell the vaccine in China, where a local vaccine company will likely charge more than 10 times what poor countries pay. When asked if there was a connection between the pullout from West Africa and the launch in China, a Merck spokesperson did not answer the question directly but wrote that it's sending the vaccine to China to fulfill⁹ a binding¹⁰ contract there. Christopher Pace analyzes¹¹ the vaccine market for the company GlobalData. He says launching in the Chinese market has big potential to boost Merck sales of the vaccine.

CHRISTOPHER PACE: China's vaccine market is quite large due to the large population. And we're expecting it to continue to grow moving forward into the future.

DOUCLEFF: Merck's agent in China is banking¹² on a strong uptake. It's planning to purchase millions of doses of the vaccine from Merck in the next few years with a price tag of more than $450 million. A pair of new vaccines¹³ were just given the stamp of approval by the World Health Organization this year. Both are manufactured in India. But PATH, the nonprofit that helped develop these vaccines, says they won't be ready in time to fill the gap left by Merck's pullout from West Africa. In the meantime, millions of babies there will be at risk for this disease.

Michaeleen Doucleff, NPR News.

1 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

2 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

3 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 seizures   

n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物

参考例句：

• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因，有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句

6 resuscitate   

v.使复活，使苏醒

参考例句：

• A policeman and then a paramedic tried to resuscitate her.一名警察和一位护理人员先后试图救活她。
• As instructed by Rinpoche,we got the doctors to resuscitate him.遵照仁波切的指示，我们找来医生帮他进行急救。

7 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

8 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

9 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

10 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

11 analyzes   

v.分析( analyze的第三人称单数 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• This approach analyzes management by studying experience usually through cases. 这个学派通常从实例获得经验，用以分析管理。 来自辞典例句
• The econometrician analyzes statistical data. 经济计量学者要分析统计材料。 来自辞典例句

12 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

13 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。